Dappa Dan

I reckon if we announce, say, on Thursday or Wednesday that we're taking Watts, we can get a full day's news out of it... this would make us more attractive to sponsors perhaps? Get Watts in the GP's minds?

He's 30... He's not going to play the footy he did with WC. And even if he does, it won't be for as long. The advantages, having him show kids how it's done over 2 seasons, are too risky given the fact he could just as easily teach them BAD habits... and the cons far outweigh the pros. If it was the same situation, but our list had 3 more years under their belts and were looking dangerous, then yes... Topping up might make sense. This is the LAST time you could possibly want a 30 year old with baggage. You can argue deails til the cows come home, but these are the simple facts. Benny will not win us a flag next year, or the year after. Simple as that.

He's 30... He's not going to play the footy he did with WC. And even if he does, it won't be for as long. The advantages, having him show kids how it's done over 2 seasons, are too risky given the fact he could just as easily teach them BAD habits... and the cons far outweigh the pros. If it was the same situation, but our list had 3 more years under their belts and were looking dangerous, then yes... Topping up might make sense. This is the LAST time you could possibly want a 30 year old with baggage. You can argue deails til the cows come home, but these are the simple facts. Benny will not win us a flag next year, or the year after. Simple as that.

That's my major concern too... I rated Williams very highly, and his time at the club was largely completely ineffective. Just saying how good a player was doesn't equate to practical success... I reckon a lot of the time it comes down to how a player expresses himself, how he gets his point across, whether it's fear (Matthews), wit (Sheedy), Intelligence (Eade) or just a reputation that preceeds them (Pagan) they get their point to the players, and educate, since they can't be the ones to go out and show how it's done. West never struck me as being very verbose, or even being good when talking to a group. So it'll be interesting to see what effect he has, if any. The plus here is that he doesn't shoulder any responsibility.

IMO Martin will be a player who's career is defined by his kick. Seems to have a lot of good aspects, including most importantly a work ethic... but he's very blue-collar. Fits in in defence as a tall cos he won't be required to kick much. As far as that is concerned, I get the feeling sooner or later dees fans will tire of his delivery, no matter how good he is as a spoiler, defender, contest-maker... I still like him, I just don't know that he's a champion footballer in the making.

Correct. The original photo wasn't a match-day one. Was training. And was DEFINITELY Jamar, to borrow some grammatical editing from above. Anyway, let's move on. What a day that was. Confirmed PJ as a player to me... Very pleased to see him mature into a best 22 player, and beyond. He's not even 25 yet, he's yet to hit his straps as a ruckman/tall.

http://afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tabid/2...px?newsId=69965 Am I going batty or is that Jamar in the photo? Jeez. The guys have been AFL listed for a combined 10 years plus, and the "journalists" at the Hun can't even get it right...

Yeah...one by one, in a line-up. :D

Yeah. Perhaps I misspoke. I like Dunn, and Juice still has some time on his side... what I meant was that they were taken as KP players, and Dunn isn't fulfilling that role. It's one thing to have all those skills you mention, another entirely to implement them and win matches off your own boot. If someone had told me we were recruiting a 192cm tagger at pick 14 I'd have scoffed... As for Juice, he's been played there but still has such a long way to go before we can even call him "consistent." Do you think either of these guys will ever scale the heights of a Tredrea/Pavlich/Hall/Riewoldt/Brown? I'd even accept it if they were second-class KP forwards, which would make a bit more sense given they were taken in the teens, not as early as those last 5 names, but they're a looong way off even being that/ Bate is probably the closest thing we have to that, and he's not exactly you're normal lead-up CHF.

The 2:25 mark of that vid... Shows how he seems to take marks even when the defender does everything right, including getting a fist to the ball. Somehow he swallows them still... A bit of spiderman going on there,

This is what I tried to say, much more clumsily, earlier this week... Usually you'd be resigned to getting some iffy ones in the teens... or perhaps even project players like painfully skinny ruckmen and the sort. But this year I'd take any of those 14 your mention and be THRILLED. ANd the best thing is once we've got our McKernan, or Swift or whoever with pick 17, we follow it up with another of relatively similar quality. This was a good draft to have a pp after the first round plus another early in the second, unlike other years, where we got guys like Bell, Dunn, 426 etc etc...

In years gone by clubs have advertised well ahead of time who they were taking with their first pick. It has happened.

Aaah yes... Sidebottom. Knew I forgot someone.

Jesus Freak... I'm still wrapping my head around the ones taken at 17 and 19... Where do you find the time?

Going on that, it looks like there's gonna be some rippers available come picks 17 and 19, with pick 14 already pencilled in as Cordy to the Dogs.

Ok... now that we're getting closer to D-day... I'm fascinated by the fact that everyone seems to have a clear idea of what's going to be picked as far down as 17 and 19 in the draft. There's SO much homework being done here. Every year there seems to be a slider, as others have put it... The following is a rough guide, going mostly on popular view, not on "smokies." I'm actually just looking for information here, so rather than disagree, I'm looking for a list of players that WILL be available around our second and third picks... or as close to as possible... So just to clarify: The following is likely.... Picks 1-3 = Watts, Rich and Naitanui in no particular order. Pick 14 = Cordy. Already arranged under f/s. That leaves only 12 more players before we get our PP. Then one more to WC before our first round 2 player. Going on what I've seen in the press, these guys are looking to be the most likely to be gone after the first round: Vickery, Hill, Ziebell, McKernan, Blease, Zaharakis, Swift, Johnston, Yarran, Smith and Hurley. And apparently Hartlett, who I don't know much about. So of that 12, you would say that SOME would perhaps not get picked up inside that all-important first dozen picks between 4 and 16... Which ones are likely to drop to us? Which ones have I left out? Will some be regarded as of higher importance due to their KP credentials? Over to you...

Agree with that WJ... My only problem with that is the fact that before the disaster of 2007, we had what many considered to be one of the best forward combinations going round... and it didn't do us much good. I'm all for a pair of gun forwards, but without a clever rebounding defence and a dominant midfield, the ball won't be in our fifty enough for us to have a tilt. The idea is sound, I just hope the club looks first at the SPINE... not just the next Schwartz.... Geez he was something though, wasn't he? I saw those pics too and thought to myself... My goodness we're a long way off...

Going on what? And since when is THAT a prerequisite for a #1 selection in the draft? I'm all for a Davey (either one) run-down while the opposition player is streaming into goal... but that alone isn't what wins you flags... I'll make it simple for you... again... Jack Watts is a good kick. Naitanui isn't... I just don't want to watch a player and think "if only...." Not again. We've had enough of those guys. If only Sylvia wasn't injured all the time, if only Davey was a bit bigger, if only PJ could mark over his head, if only THE ENTIRE TEAM could kick properly, if only Jamar could... erm... anything. Now here's the important part. Are we listening? I (me) PREFER Jack Watts. I (me) reckon any of the big three... even the big 4 or 5 would be sensational pickups. This is not one of those years where there's a clear standout at #1, then a whole bunch just after him. I (me) agree with you (you) when you say Naita is going to be a good player... You are entitled to your opinion, and with peoples' draft preferences, EVERYONE'S a genius, unless you're unlucky enough to have fallen in love with Aaron Fiora just before draft time... Rant over. I'm gonna go read something constructive now... Good luck to you, Freak.

You stopped reading? Why do you come to these forums? Is it just to spout garbage in the hope people will read, and then ignore what everyone else writes? Being quick is nothing next to being able to evade. And if you get excited about a bunch of stats recorded in a room when kids are 17, then you have less idea about footy than most people on here, which is saying something. Daniel Bell is VERY fast, and he gets caught all the time. It's simple. Go and watch the guy play. Go and watch the highlights vids on youtube, he gets caught with the ball cos he doesn't know where to run. Actually you know what, as soon as anyone loses interest in Naita, you lose interest in what they have to say. Is that right? Ok. Good... Good to see you're keeping that immense mind of yours open. You keep flying the flag... it's noble work you're doing.

Not going on what I saw... he may be quick, but I didn't see him tear it up all that much. And what good is pace as a ruckman, unless you're quicker than all the little guys who can run you down? What are you on? Seriously? How hard is it to understand my last post? ignore list? WTF?!! I'll keep it simple for you. ALL Naita has is his leap, his physicality and a bit of pace. My concerns are with his weaknesses, and the fact that the club can't afford to take a risk with a player that could be a dud... or at least might end up being the next Brennan. A highly skilled, dazzling player who ultimately disappoints. MFC hasn't got the resources, or the time to waste on a player that they'd have to fix up, and that might take 5 years to become the player he's going to be. (IMO Watts, not being a ruckman, will take less time to make an impact) And before you defend his weaknesses, it has been said in MANY football circles that there's two things you'll never change in footy. The umpires will always get it wrong some of the time, and you can never teach a bad kick to be a good kick. Why is Watts my choice? Because he seems to be closer to being the complete player. How hard is that to understand mate? Fair go, get your hand off it. You have what ever opinion you want, go for Naitanui all you like, good luck to you... you may even be proven right? But don't go saying I'm making silly arguments, just because you haven't the ability to read clearly. Yeah, I don't mean to be against Rich. I like him. I'd REALLY like him, actually... but I reckon we're in more dire need of a spine. By the time the talls taken this year mature, McLean and his buddies will be counting the years... I know they say recruiting for type over quality is a mistake, but in this case we're in trouble if we don't fill up on talls. Our last big KP recruiting year was a bit of a bust (Bate, Dunn, Newton), as two turned out to be mids, and the other is still a bit iffy...

Yeah. Best deal for all (except Chopper maybe). I have a soft spot for him, as I think many do, but what was he going to achieve at MFC other than keeping Martin, Frawley or Warnock out of a spot? Hs papers were signed the day Bailey took the job.

Ok... So you're saying NicNat is harder at it than Watts? Well I would say that while yes, he is hard at it, he HAS to be. If you take away his physicality, he has a high leap.... and that's about it. Perhaps a bit of pace too... Watts has a sticky pair of hands, pace on the lead, a leap of his own, likes the pack marks more, has a booming kick that's fluid in motion, turns on a dime, gets out of trouble well... and while he doesn't excel at the in and under he's FAR from soft, going on the footage we've seen. If we're going to split hairs, I'd say Vickery shows more at the hard ball than either of these guys, is a ruckman, and can play... So why aren't we talking about him? When you do your sums, it's just a matter of preference in the end. Personally I'd take Watts' class and all-round excellence in all the main areas over NicNat's leap and perceived hardness. We are in dire need of something resembling a safe bet, which is why I go for Watts, then Rich, then NicNat... But that's just me.

That's never going to work with our list. Who do we have in the forward line that could mark it? Or even create a contest? Would only end up being a quicker rebound and resultant goal, 9 times out of 10.

Have you seen much footage of Watts playing? I understand the trepidation given his basketball background, but if you've seen some of his footy you wouldn't worry about it at all. The guy moves like he's been playing the game for years. That said, I'm with you on the Nicnat front. I know who I prefer, but honestly I reckon the bottom three clubs will all get very good players, and any of the three will be the envy of the higher placed clubs at this year's draft in the same way Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer et al were. It's one of the reasons I was happy to end up 15th this season.

A friend had a chat to Neita when out (the real one) and he reckons Jack's a Monty to be at MFC... For whatever it's worth... a friend of a friend of a friend...